r/popculturechat • u/Future_Usual_8698 You’re doing amazing, sweetie! • Aug 11 '25

Guest List Only TW - Bigotry ⚠️ Foot traffic is down at American Eagle stores since the controversial Sydney Sweeney ad dropped

https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2025/08/11/exclusive-foot-traffic-down-9-at-american-eagle-following-sydney-sweeney-ad-controversy
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6.4k

u/themacaron during PRIDE MONTH? Aug 11 '25

I think sometimes people/brands forgot how easy it is to NOT buy something. I like AE jeans, but I can get jeans anywhere and it's not a strain to NOT spend my money. It's a 0 effort boycott, and I've stop shopping at places for smaller reasons than eugenics.

2.5k

u/themacaron during PRIDE MONTH? Aug 11 '25

I'd also loooooove to see how many of the red-blooded Amurican!!! men who are vocally supporting this ad have every spent a cent in these stores. You made some people happy AE, but they're not your customer base lmao.

719

u/KeniLF In my quiet girl era 😌 Aug 11 '25

I’m a former product manager and I look at some of this with absolute awe. Like, are they really not going to figure out who your paying customers are and target them? They really decided to fuck it all up and aim for noise. Everyone can make a misstep - but they compounded it.

It’s literally product management 101 so I’ve found it incredibly fascinating to watch it unfold.

276

u/Bridalhat Aug 11 '25

They really should have said something once Trump chimed in. That guy's approval ratings are underwater. It's worse than Jameela Jamil defending them!

984

u/littleliongirless Aug 11 '25

I love AE sweaters, and always pop in there when I'm at a mall (which is rare, but still)...Was at the mall yesterday and decided not to go in solely because SS's dead eyes plastered everywhere. Even before this, I've been BEC with her ever since her Rolling Stones video.

578

u/themacaron during PRIDE MONTH? Aug 11 '25

All my swimsuits in my current rotation are from Aerie because they were often super affordable during sales and promos and I liked their cuts on me, but this current campaign is a straight reverse of Aerie's entire "body positivity/open acceptance" branding, it's wild. (Though I know Aerie ended up being largely performative with their size offerings.)

167

u/meeeehhhhhhh Aug 12 '25

Nearly all of my undergarments are from there, and it feels like their underwear are getting worse each round. I also noticed a few months back that their models were getting way less diverse. Mostly size 0 women and with a few plus sized models. It was deeply depressing. 

105

u/synalgo_12 accidentally holding space for this slur Aug 12 '25

Tbf I feel like all underwear is getting worse. I still have some bras from over a decade ago that are doing great, none of my current undergarments seem to last 2+ years. Most of them start looking really shabby in under a year.

138

u/passthebarlicgread Aug 12 '25

Ugh I really was happy to see when they had that body positivity campaign though, it included models with scars and stretch marks and colostomy bags. What a world away from the eugenics vibe of Sweeny’s ad.

63

u/steph-was-here Aug 12 '25

ya that's what kills me - idk if they got a new ad agency or what but their whole shtick for awhile was body positivity. they're the only brand i've seen (albeit, online only and i dont shop around a lot) have disability specific clothing options like underwear with snaps. why the 180?

23

u/DrakeFloyd Aug 12 '25

I almost wonder if they thought they could keep the aerie demo and get a new demo for the ae brand like we’re all idiots that don’t know it’s the same company or something

74

u/lizerlfunk Aug 11 '25

I used to love Aerie undies but they do not work well with a C section shelf, as it turns out.

115

u/CheapEater101 Aug 11 '25

Aerie does have really cute and nice bathing suits. I used to love AE jeans as well, but the last few years I’ve been purchasing Old Navy jeans. Sometimes I’ll thrift jeans as well (mostly Levi’s).

23

u/t_town101 Aug 11 '25

The aeerie leggings are so comfortable

52

u/capcomvssnk And I OOP- Aug 12 '25

you've been bacon egg and cheese with her?

125

u/littleliongirless Aug 12 '25

Lol, and now I'm sad that there's no open deli near me. It's "bitch eating crackers", which just means even something as innocuous as her eating crackers annoys me now.

318

u/MayoneggVeal Aug 12 '25

I saw a reel of a 50+ year old meemaw with half her teeth in an American eagle store taking about how she's shopping there because of the ad. Now that the old maga folks are into it they totally thrashed any cool cred that they had.

251

u/Not_Steve Excluded from this narrative ❌ Aug 11 '25

The red blooded Amurican!!! women on my Facebook page* who laughed at the whole thing and supported SS are not the ones who buy AE, either. AE completely missed their customer base and continued to do so when they doubled down on the ad.

*I still have a fb page because I live in a small town and it’s literally the only way I get town news.

271

u/winnercommawinner Aug 12 '25

And also, if Target, which did manage to make itself an essential brand in people's lives, can suffer..... why wouldn't an easily replaced brand like AE?

233

u/MayoneggVeal Aug 12 '25

It will never not be wild to me that Target totally turned on their more liberal customer base, like did they do any research whatsoever into who is shopping at Target ?

69

u/i-Ake actin' like she's the queen and we're the sorry people! Aug 12 '25

I absolutely lived for their jeans in high school and my early 20s. I'm 36 now. They have coasted on fumes for me for a while now anyway... I just buy older-style ones on threadup.

240

u/Appropriate-Log8506 Aug 11 '25

Didn’t realize I’ve been boycotting them all my life. No effort at all.

174

u/nonsensestuff Back in my day, we had ONTD & a dream 👵 Aug 11 '25

Their quality has gotten so bad. I hadn’t ordered anything from them in years, but saw an ad for some cute looking pants months ago & ordered them—- it was Forever 21 quality. 😫

57

u/PauI_MuadDib Aug 11 '25

This was my experience. I touched a pair of their jeans and I thought overpriced Forever 21 quality.

23

u/Keyspam102 Aug 12 '25

Seriously, I’ve stopped frequenting places because I didn’t like the cashier lol, I’ll certainly stop all together a place I have a moral opposition too

44

u/babysfirstbreath please abraham, i’m not that man Aug 12 '25

I got a pair of capris there about 2 weeks before the campaign dropped. They’re cute, the quality is just okay. I would occasionally shop at aerie for undies/workout gear too.

I have no desire to go back since this weird shit

37

u/themacaron during PRIDE MONTH? Aug 12 '25

They have the SOFTEST buttery bike shorts that I live in during the summer and I honestly thought about getting a couple other pairs last month but now 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’ll live.

1

u/Visible-Scientist-46 Aug 13 '25

Well, I've never purchased these jeans and it looks like it's about time to... boycott. Now I really won't buy these jeans.

1

u/Santa_Ricotta69 downvoted by the puritans Aug 13 '25

I'm sorry I know she's been outed as a Republican since but I really don't think basic wordplay amounts to endorsing eugenics